Exhibition "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec" at the Kunstforum Wien in Vienna – until 25 January 2015

The Path to Modernism

In October 2014 the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien is showing the first comprehensive retrospective of the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ever held in Austria. The 150th anniversary of this spectacular artist’s birth is a fitting occasion for holding this exhibition, in which loans from international collections present Lautrec’s multifaceted oeuvre and his extraordinary observational skills in different genres – paintings, works on paper, lithographs and posters.

Besides the illustrious “loud” posters for the pleasure palaces of Montmartre, the foundation of Lautrec’s international fame, we can also discover the lesser known Toulouse Lautrec: paintings in muted colors facilitating an intimate form of portraying human psychology, drawings with pen and pencil, ideal for a pithy characterization of the subject. The linking and juxtaposition of different modes of expression, themes and concepts are a reflection of the artist’s complex figure on the brink between two centuries. A unique show, which illuminates new aspects of one of the great protagonists at the dawning of Modernism.

The Ecole de Nancy Museum has an exceptional collection of works of Émile Gallé, in number and in quality.

This new album, published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the museum, gathers a selection of key works of the artist, as well as less-known works or aimed at a personal use or more confidential (items in leather, textiles, etc.). The photographic and documentary collection – sometimes unpublished – enables to evoke Gallé’s family and intellectual framework, as well as his professional entourage (art factory, colleagues, working methods, etc.).

Conceived under the direction of Valérie Thomas, director of the museum and representative member of the Réseau Art Nouveau Network, in collaboration with the conservation team, and published by Snoeck editions, this book invites to better understand the abundant work and the complex personality of the Ecole de Nancy’s leader, and reveals numerous unknown works and documents. It also demonstrates the generosity of the artist’s descendents towards the collections of the museum since the 1950’s until today.

Glasgow has a spectacular array of buildings and is internationally renowned for its history of architectural innovation and design excellence. This book, written by one of the Réseau Art Nouveau Network’s members, Helen Kendrick, offers a glimpse into a selection of Glasgow’s most impressive historic interiors. Featuring 33 of the city’s most alluring buildings – both public and private – Glasgow Interiors tells the story of the city’s built heritage over the past 150 years.

From a dramatic Victorian swimming bath and a glittering art deco restaurant to intricately detailed Art Nouveau warehouses and imposing Edwardian townhouses in the city’s West End, this book demonstrates the extraordinary wealth of interiors that lie behind the façades of Glasgow’s buildings.

Cycle The Great War: end of a (Belle) Epoque at the Cinematek in Brussels – from 11 January to 22 February 2015

The First War ends an historical time that the French bourgeoisie called “Belle Epoque” and destabilizes the European culture. Films selected in this programme evoke the end of this legendary period of carefreeness and of faith in progress.

Call for papers II coupDefouet International Congress in Barcelona – from 25 to 28 June 2015

Breaking the Art Nouveau Glass Ceiling

The Art Nouveau European Route brings together local governments and other institutions in the common quest for the protection, promotion and diffusion of Art Nouveau heritage.

To fully explore and bring to light the value of Art Nouveau heritage, therefore, a Congress organised by the Art Nouveau European Route cannot limit its scope to the analyses and interpretation of the tangible heritage; it must go deeper into the reality of the communities that created it.

In this second edition of the coupDefouet International Congress, we propose to shed new light on an aspect that has been studied very little, if at all: the important contribution of women artists to the development of Art Nouveau. In a nutshell: women as artists, women as creators, women as promoters and protagonists of Art Nouveau. Coupled with this ambition, we also wish to revisit the widely studied and interpreted representation of the female aesthetic and ideal in Art Nouveau, with new contributions on the matter.

A further strand will focus on little-known Art Nouveau cities, in which we expect to discover creative centres of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that have not until now been widely publicised. A similar section on research in progress to the first congress, one in which we welcome presentations from both seasoned and young researchers, will complete the thematic strands of the programme.